Parry

Compared to a normal block, which will stagger the enemy and leave a small window for counterattack, parrying will knock aside their weapon and leave them wide open for a longer time. After initiating a successful parry with L2, the riposte can be initiated by attacking immediately with R1, a move that will inflict critical damage with knockdown. To successfully pull off a parry, it should be initiated just before the enemys weapon makes contact, a parry not timed right will still block some of the attack if it makes contact with the weapon, the parry move can also be used to knock away arrows if you are using a parry weapon instead of a shield. The Parrying Dagger and the Buckler Shield is said to have a longer lasting parry animation.

Riposte

The reward for a successful riposte is a very high bonus damage, but a parry can be tricky to time right and can leave the player wide open should it fail. Most weapons can execute a riposte, but the damage varies from weapon to weapon and from utilising what type of damage the enemy is weak to. Some weapons, like daggers, will still outshine them when you compare the bonus damage to the weapons base damage. Since a parry-weapon is needed in the left hand, the riposte is by default one-handed, but there is usually time to switch to two-handing the weapon before executing the riposte1. Most attacks will give increased damage after a parry, even spells will benefit when holding a Catalyst in the right hand, but only the R1 attack with a weapon will execute a riposte. If the riposte is initiated too late after parrying a NPC, it will only deal as much damage as a backstab. While performing a Riposte you are immune to damage for the duration of the attack.

Some examples:(tested on dreglings)

The Northern Regalia, with a max damage of 540, gave a critical damage of 996, while the riposte damage was 1663!

A Dagger, with a base damage of 65+13, gave a critical backstab damage of 153, while the riposte damage was 273 - almost four times the damage of the weapon!

Note: If it can be backstabbed, it can usually be parried as well. If the enemy is twice your size, don't bother trying. The Dregling Merchant deviates from the rest as he can be parried, but not riposted.

Parry and Riposte in PvP

It is much more difficult to parry a player character than it is to parry and riposte normal enemies, due to lag issues.

Key

Name:

Names displayed are according to the Asian version of the game. Name changes in the Atlus (NA) version, if any, will appear in parentheses.

Damage Reduction %:

The Damage Reduction of the weapon. It dictates how much damage the weapon mitigates while blocking. The Damage Reduction % stats for a shield are X / Y / Z:

X is Physical Damage

Y is Magical Damage

Z is Fire Damage

Guard Break Reduction:

The Guard Break Reduction determines the amount of stamina expended to block an incoming attack. A higher Guard Break Reduction also allows you to block stronger attacks without breaking guard and reduces the amount of stamina depleted from blocking attacks.

Note:

Damage Reduction % and Guard Break Reduction for weapons are for blocking (L1), when wielding weapon in left hand, or two-handing.

Dur:

The Durability of the weapon. The effectiveness of the weapon will severely deteriorate when the durability falls below 30%.

Wt:

The Weight of the weapon. Note that carrying over 50% of your Equip Burden will reduce the speed of your rolls, while going over 100% will reduce your regular speed to walking and attempts to roll or backstep will leave you momentarily stunned.

Stats Needed:

The Stats Needed determines how high various Stats must be in order to wield the weapon effectively. The Requirement stats for an weapon are W / X / Y / Z:

W is the Strength required

X is the Dexterity required

Y is the Magic required

Z is the Faith required

While it is possible to use a shield with lower-than-required Strength, your character will suffer a severe penalty to Guard Break Reduction, thus making it easier to break your character's guard.

Footnotes

1. A strange bug occurs if the riposte is executed simultaneously with two-handing the weapon (Δ + R1), or during a running R1 attack. The enemy's riposte animation plays out as usual, while your character's animation won't play.